Dethroning the Serious

When I first read the assignment for our blogs, I immediately opened Susan Sontag’s article on “Camp” because I have been previously intrigued with her brilliant writing. However, I was mistaken to try and read “Camp” before watching “RuPaul’s Drag Race” considering that RuPaul epitomizes the underlying principles of the mysteriousness of “Camp.” After seeing RuPaul, I finally got what camp was all about. First of all, “Camp” centers on the spirit of extravagance. RuPaul’s drag race can be seen as this from the over-the-top outfits, wigs, and makeup. Another key aspect of “Camp” is the idea of self-parody. The more successful couples on the show really got into character, including the Jocks, as apposed to taking themselves too seriously. Whether it was the intense lip-syncing competition, the safe-sex cheerleading, or the runway show, you could tell that the members of the show were having so much fun by not taking themselves too seriously. Another aspect of “Camp” is the attempt to be glamorous. One of the Jocks (the Water Polo player) was so surprised when he looked in the mirror after all the makeup. It seemed that he really liked to feel glamorous. “Camp” also appreciates vulgarity. At the end of the show (the lip-syncing competition) Carmen Carrera shamelessly takes of her clothes while the cheers about safe-sex are almost cringe-worthy of their vulgarity (when spelling out things such as “bare-backing” or slapping their partners but with pom-poms). After watching RuPaul’s Drag Race and reading “Camp” I almost felt that I couldn’t take myself too seriously. They successfully dethroned the serious and replaced it with a drag queen.

"[She] Wants So Badly to be Campy that She's Continually Losing the Beat"

Note the robot with the high heels.

      After reading Susan Sontag's Notes on "Camp", I watched RuPaul's Drag Race (season 3, episode 12: "Jocks in Frocks"). I was very curious how the transformation of heterosexual jocks into drag queens would go. And WOW metamorphosis~!
      Afterwards I tried to figure out why Carmen Carrera was eliminated once again. It seems to me that

• Carmen was "too mediocre in [her] ambition" when it came to building up her drag sister: the jock was left looking like a masculine man in a dress. Carmen did not go far enough and, by focusing primarily on herself, left her partner looking like a caterpillar poking out of its cocoon with crumpled wings—an incomplete transformation. Maybe the judges would have enjoyed it more if Carmen was joking around, but Carmen was totally serious. Serious about the serious.
• Carmen did the opposite during the lip-syncing and tried too hard. She "wants so badly to be campy that she's continually losing the beat"; Carmen continuously mentioned that her style was nudity, but her stripping during the lip-sync seemed like she just wanted some shock value and was a try-hard. In other words, Carmen failed to grasp the finer aspects of Camp both times.

-Jeremy 

“Camp is either completely naive or else wholly conscious”

To me, the most interesting part of the episode of Rupaul’s Drag Race, Jocks in Frocks, was the juxtaposition of the drag queens and the jocks. The drag queens seek to embody all things feminine while the jocks represent all things masculine. The drag queens are completely at ease pretending to be women while the jocks are clearly very uncomfortable with the situation. This related to Susan Sontag’s Camp when she states “camp is either completely naive or else wholly conscious”. In this case, the jocks are “completely naïve” because they don’t know what they are doing: they don’t know how to walk in heels or imitate the maneurisms of a woman. At the same time, the drag queens competing are “wholly conscious” of what they are doing to the point where they actually make the audience believe that they are women. Overall, I think the relationship between these two groups was a very thought-provoking topic for an episode of this show.

Anna-Cat Brigida

My Thoughts: Jocks In Frocks

I found RuPaul's Drag U to be a very entertaining show. Some parts of it were quite comical, especially when the jocks looked so uncomfortable with the topic of sex or where they were to hide their penis. I was quite excited towards the end of the show when there seemed to be fluidity between the "sisters" and a kind of understanding. Susan Sontag states "Indeed the essence of Camp is its love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration". Although this was unnatural to the jocks, to be dressed up in costume completely out of thier comfort zone they found the love that these drag queens have for their lifestyle. And towards the end, one could feel the jocks sensibility for the subject matter change a bit.

Wait! Jocks as Drag Queens???

After watching the drag race, episode “Jocks in Frocks” I was quite surprised and a bit uncomfortable at first. I had never heard of the show prior to the assignment. I found the premise quite interesting though to dress heterosexual jocks in drag. Jock and drag queens are complete opposites. I then considered Susan Sontag’s description of camp as a “vision of the world in terms of style -- but a particular kind of style. It is the love of the exaggerated, the "off," of things-being-what-they-are-not.” The show exemplified Susan Sontag’s idea of camp and style, while the characters exaggerated and enjoyed themselves. Although the show is a competition, the characters benefit more from the freedom of expression.

It’s also fascinating how although the show is a source of entertainment, it also serves as a message to people to accept things that go above and beyond social expectations. Susan Sontag also gives similar advice by describing camp as “art that proposes itself seriously, but cannot be taken altogether seriously because it is "too much."” Perhaps the shock factor and comedian acts drive away any hidden messages and meaning. Although in the end, it is an entertaining show, which follows closely with the ideas of Susan Sontag and ‘Camp.’

Ba-ah-ah-audy Body

Caity Croft

SWMS 215

Blog Post #2

“Style is a simple way of saying complicated things”

-Jean Cocteau

“Create your own visual style… let it be unique for yourself and yet identifiable for others” -Orson Welles

I watched DragU: Episode 8, Season 2: A Family that Drags Together. Part of what draws us to drag is, as Susan Sontag might say, what offends us about it. The fact that I have known who RuPaul is my entire life speaks to the fascination that “campy” forms of expression inspire within us. The concept of the show itself is so inherently “campy,” that, although I normally never watch TV, let alone reality TV, could not help but watch the episode with a mixture of naïve curiosity and amusement. The show related back to Sontag’s Notes on Camp, in multiple ways, namely, Sontag’s explanation of a certain aspect of camp, “To perceive Camp in objects and persons is to understand Being-as-Playing-a-Role. It is the farthest extension, in sensibility, of the metaphor of life as theater” (Sontag). I had never thought about drag in this way, but drag is the height of theatricality, those dressed in drag, “Beings-as-Playing-a-Role.” The lavish costumes and makeup in addition to the sassy, hilariously ego-centric, larger-than-life personalities that are associated with drag are the epitome of both the Camp and the theatricality Sontag describes.

Works Cited:

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/jeancoctea379269.html

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/o/orsonwelle109681.html

Sontag, Susan. Notes on Camp. 1964. http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/irvinem/theory/Sontag- NotesOnCamp-1964.html

Questions that Intrigue Me

When I watched Drag U's "The Family that Drags together" and Susan Sontag's "Notes on Camp," there were certain questions that I couldn't get off my mind. First of all, being gender female in a body that is male assigned at birth seems like a very individual, personal experience. So how true and genuine is the identity of being a drag queen? It seems like people of this description almost seem to morf into a new type of category (drag) as they broke away from categories of the binary system. Do drag queens enjoy this form of expression because they love to dramatize their gender expression? How much of "showing what I am on the inside" is genuine and how much of it is motivated with the intention of shock and drama? Susan Sontag states the "love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration." In her writing and in watching confident drag queens stand next to their family members in the Drag U episode I realized how much this concept intrigues me.

I also really enjoyed reading the quote in Sontag's article "One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art" stated by Oscar Wilde. When I watched the drags on the show Drag U such as Raven with her mom, Jujubee with her sister, and Manila Luzon which her sister, I saw a contrast in being a work of art and in wearing a work of art. It made me wonder if from a family member's point of view, the drag queen that is related to them may already represent a work of art to them. I wonder how they feel about their relative putting on a dramatic show in their gender expression.

NY Times Cartoon

The Importance of Style

"The Spirit of Extravagance:" Dean of Drag Lady Bunny and her hair.
http://artvoice.com/issues/v6n34/thats_lady_bunny_honey/lady_bunny_1

Susan Sontag states in her essay “Notes on ‘Camp’” that Camp is the “victory of ‘style’ over ‘content.’” This statement accurately summarizes what ended up happening in the episode “A Family that Drags Together” from “RuPaul’s Drag U.” The three women who appear for a “drag education” are related to three of the professors, as two sisters and one mother. Each of the women has her own reason for going on the show, be it gaining confidence or becoming closer to her respective drag queen, but what the women are trying to achieve, the “content,” is ultimately of no consequence. What does matter is how they present what they achieve—the “style” in which they show their accomplishments. Sontag remarks that “the whole point of Camp is to dethrone the serious,” and that “‘sincerity’ is not enough.” The women take a completely over-the-top, farcical route to accomplish their serious, sincere aims, thus living up to the intense artificiality of Camp—and, of course, of drag.

Jocks in Frocks are Beautiful

Susan Sontag explains that what is most beautiful in a man is something feminine and what is most beautiful in a woman is something masculine. This was clearly shown in Ru Paul's Drag Race episode "Jocks in Frocks." In turning athletic men into drag queens, it was clear that there was something sensitive and beautiful in each of these manly men. Sontag goes on to explain that sexiest part of people is what is most opposite from their actual sex, saying that Camp can refer to something that seems different, but is in fact the same. When the drag queens were paired up with their jocks, I had no idea how it would all work out. Even though they were both anatomically men, the differences between the two seemed huge. These straight guys with athletic builds having to look and act like women. I wondered what drove them to volunteer to be on this show. I thought that there must be something inside of them that always wanted to try drag because they all did have feminine qualities that came out throughout their work on the show and truly were each beautiful. I also noticed that a few of the drag queens, like Alexis, were more athletic than I would've imagined, proving that a more feminine man can also have a masculine side that is equally special.

Another point Songtag brings up in her essay is that Camp creates a different and new set of standards for what is good and bad. None of the jocks in the show were seen as doing something "bad" by letting go of some of their masculinity, and of course the actual drag queens love what they do and would never think of dressing up as a woman as something out of the ordinary. Society is somewhat judgmental of this type of work because it is something different that people feel uncomfortable watching. Even as I started the show, it took me a few minutes to get into it and not feel awkward by watching these very confidently effeminate guys. The truth is, there is nothing right or wrong about expressing ones self in the way the contestants on the show do. They are free to dress up as women, and in all honestly, they are so good at it. I legitimately thought some of them were beautiful and totally believed they were girls, especially when Carmen came out half naked, I was like "Wow, his body is better looking than mine." These men finally feel comfortable enough to express this side of themselves, and should not be frowned upon for doing so, but rather embraced by exposing the rest of the world to be comfortable with drag.

Rupauls Drag Race

So, when I sat down to watch the clips that we were sent, I had no idea what to expect, and I had no idea how intriguing they were going to be!

The first thing I remember thinking when I watched the episode of Drag Race, "Jocks in Frocks", was how beautiful the men were when they were dressed as women. Carmen Carrera, shown below:

is such a convincing woman that by looking only at this photo many would be surprised that she is actually physically a man. Another thing that I found really interesting was the transformation made by the jocks that were brought onto the show. At the beginning of the episode, most of the men seem uncomfortable as the attempt to become the 'sisters' of these Drag Queens. Yet, by the end of the episode most of the men have embraced their character and have found a way to learn from their experience and appreciate what the Drag Queens do and who they are.

This episode of "Rupauls Drag Race" is related to Susan Sontag's argument of "Camp" really well as the essence of both is artifice and exaggeration. Even the first bullet point that Sontag makes about camp, that Camp is "not in terms of beauty, but in terms of artifice, of stylization" relates to the Drag Queens found on Rupauls show as they are often acknowledged more for their eccentric styles than for their natural beauty. Although the essence of the Drag Queens comes from within, there is a great amount of artifice used to enhance their look as well as personify their personalities through their feminine looks. One of the most applicable quotes from Sontag's arguments that correlate directly to the Drag Queens of "Rupauls Drag Race" is the idea that "camp is a mode of seduction--one which employs flamboyant mannerisms susceptible of a double interpretation; gestures full of duplicity, with a witty meaning for cognoscenti and another, more impersonal, for outsiders." Just as in Sontag's definition of Camp, Drag Queens possess this same flamboyant nature through which they express themselves and connect with others.

Jocks in Frocks - Awks.

When I clicked on the link, I had no idea what I was getting into. The show is now over, and I am still mind-blown at what was going on in front of me. However, as the show went on, I began to find everything very funny and started laughing a lot and creeping out my roommate.

The techniques of Camp style that are described in Susan Sontag's "Notes on 'Camp'" were clearly implemented in the RuPaul's Drag Race episode, creating humor through the flamboyant, theatrical, ironic, and exaggerated behavior of the drag queens as well as the others on the show. Susan Sontag's thesis 10: "Camp sees everything in quotation marks. It's not a lamp, but a "lamp"; not a woman, but a "woman." To perceive Camp in objects and persons is to understand Being-as-Playing-a-Role. It is the farthest extension, in sensibility, of the metaphor of life as theater," is apparent throughout the show and leads to the most humor. The drag queen contestants are being-as-playing-a-role. RuPaul refers to them sometimes as men and sometimes as women. Nothing is constant, which leads to humor at the incongruousness (ie the jocks and drag queens juxtaposed) of everything in the show. Flamboyance is clearly a big part of the show, as can be seen in the drag queens' cat walks and cheer-leading about safe sex through promiscuous means. One starts to watch and enjoy the show through the drag queens' perspective, which is extremely animated and excited. I enjoyed looking at the jocks through their perspective and laughing at their clear lack of skill at playing the role of a sister. My favorite line of the show was: "Are you straight?" "Yes." "Ah, well nobody is perfect."

The camp style was very well implemented in the show to add humor. The more ostentatious it became, the more appeal the show had. I have seen another movie in my English class, "Cabaret," which has musical numbers that also follow camp style as described by Susan Sontag:
This is a cabaret performance (all actors are males that have cross-dressed) from the movie - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPOiaAU_vJg&feature=related